On Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia held the cash rate steady for yet another month.
This may not be the case in the coming months, though, as a growing number of economists and experts are tipping rates to go lower.
If this does in fact happen it is likely to mean that interest rates on savings accounts will remain at their low levels for a very long time.
The good news is that the Australian share market has a large number of dividend shares with yields that smash these interest rates. Three to consider are as follows:
National Storage REIT (ASX: NSR)
I think that this self-storage focused real estate investment trust is one of the best dividend shares on the local share market. Last month National Storage released its interim results and revealed yet another strong half. The trust delivered a 13% increase in first half revenue to $72.8 million and a 22% increase in operating profit to $42.2 million thanks to solid demand for its services and its growth through acquisition strategy. I expect this strong start to the year and its development pipeline to allow the company to achieve the high end of its full year distribution guidance range of 9.6 cents to 9.9 cents per unit. If it does, it means its shares currently offer a forward 5.6% yield.
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)
One of my favourite options in the resources sector right now is this mining giant. It recently announced its full year results which revealed that the company generated US$7 billion of free cash flow and a 6% increase in earnings per share to 512.3 U.S. cents in FY 2018. This strong performance and its robust balance sheet allowed the Rio Tinto board to declare a fully franked final dividend of US$1.80 per share and a fully franked special dividend of US$2.43 per share. At the current exchange rate, these dividends offer investors a 6.1% yield. But act fast if you want this dividend because its shares go ex-dividend on Thursday.
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Rural Funds is a real estate property trust which has a portfolio of agricultural assets across several industries and geographies. Due to its high quality tenants, long term tenancy agreements, and rental indexation, I believe Rural Funds is well-positioned to grow its distribution at a solid rate over the next decade. In FY 2019 it intends to pay a total distribution of 10.85 cents per unit, which equates to a yield of 4.8% at present.
